Dalit groom thrashed in Haryana for riding 'ghodi' to bride's place

In yet another case of crime against Dalits, a Dalit groom was thrashed in Haryana’s Charki Dadri for riding a mare to reach bride’s place as part of the ritual. The incident comes days after Karnal village in Haryana witnessed tension after upper-caste men barred a Dalit groom from carrying out the marriage ritual of ghurchari.

The latest incident occurred in Sanjarwas village on Tuesday night where a group of upper-caste youth thrashed the Dalit. The police have registered an FIR against 15-16 people of the Rajput community for attacking the Dalits.

The groom, identified as Sanjay Kumar, and some other members of the marriage party were taken to hospital for primary treatment. Two members of the bride’s family have also received injuries. The marriage ceremony was later performed under police security.

The incident happened when the marriage party was on its way to the bride’s place. Some youths stopped them and objected to the groom riding a mare. They reportedly said that only upper-caste men were allowed to perform the ghurchari.

This led to a scuffle between the two groups and the youths allegedly thrashed the groom and other members of the marriage party. The police arrived in the village soon after the incident and controlled the situation. The injured were then taken to the primary health centre for treatment.

Recently, the state government had to rush its two senior leaders to a Karnal village after a conflict between the upper-caste men and Dalits over the ghurchari ritual. The state has witnessed many incidents in which the upper-caste men attacked the Dalits for performing the ghurchari, which is a ritual in which the groom rides a mare to the village temple or to the home of the bride.